Hoseong-dong noodle spot, dinner with two kids: Eonyang Dak Kalguksu

📍 Eonyang Dak Kalguksu Songcheon-dong Eco City Branch Address: 230 Songcheon-jungang-ro, Deokjin-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeonbuk-do, South Korea (송천동2가 489-1) It's close to Songcheon-dong Eco City, so it's an easy visit from Songcheon-dong and also from Hoseong-dong.

Today we went to eat something hot and soupy with the kids near Songcheon-dong Eco City in Jeonju, so we headed to Eonyang Dak Kalguksu Songcheon-dong Eco City Branch. It's a chicken noodle soup specialist that uses self-made noodles aged 24 hours and a milky chicken bone broth simmered for 24 hours. The signature is the nutty perilla-based chicken kalguksu, but there's also spicy kalguksu and chicken gomtang if you want other options, which made it easy to visit with kids. We ordered a large spicy kalguksu + dumpling set and a chicken gomtang.

Parking and location: how close is it to Hoseong-dong and Jeonju Zoo?

Eonyang Dak Kalguksu Songcheon-dong Eco City Branch has its own parking lot, which made it easy to visit by car. When eating out with kids, parking is the very first thing I check before even arriving. Not having to circle the block looking for a spot is a huge plus when you're with children!

It's also not far from Jeonju Zoo, so it's worth keeping in mind as a place to eat before or after a zoo trip. Especially on weekends, lots of people go to Jeonju Zoo with kids and then need somewhere to eat, so a restaurant with parking is definitely convenient.

Seating and baby chairs: can Eonyang Dak Kalguksu handle a family gathering?

Once we parked and went inside, the interior of Eonyang Dak Kalguksu Songcheon-dong Eco City Branch turned out to be bigger than it looked from outside. The tables were fairly well spaced and there were plenty of seats, making it comfortable to eat as a family. When you're out with kids, tables packed too close together can feel stressful, but the roomy layout let us relax a bit more.

There's also space for larger groups and room-style seating, so it looked great not just for family meals but for dining with parents or hosting family gatherings and group meetups. And a baby chair was ready to go too! With easy access from Songcheon-dong, Eco City, and Hoseong-dong, plus parking and roomy seating, this is worth keeping in mind if you're looking for a Hoseong-dong restaurant in Jeonju or a spot for a family gathering.

Refilling side dishes at the self-serve bar

There's a self-serve bar on one side of the restaurant. If you run out of basic side dishes, you can grab more yourself without having to flag down staff, which was convenient. Especially with kalguksu, you go through a lot of kimchi, right? But don't expect the kimchi here to be your average noodle-shop kimchi, haha. Made fresh every morning with domestic napa cabbage, it's a pretty spicy style that reminded me of silbi kimchi. I'll come back to this kimchi story shortly — because it made quite an impression at our table that day, haha.

What makes Eonyang-style chicken kalguksu different?

Eonyang Dak Kalguksu Songcheon-dong Eco City Branch is a chicken noodle soup specialist using self-made noodles aged 24 hours and chicken bone broth simmered in a pot for 24 hours. The noodles are apparently aged at minus 3 degrees Celsius to keep their chewy texture, and it seemed like a lot of care went into the noodles themselves so they'd hold up well against the rich broth.

The signature chicken kalguksu is a nutty, mild style made with milky chicken bone broth and perilla seeds. It's a warm, filling bowl with chicken and perilla — perfect these days when you're craving something hearty and soupy. Beyond the signature chicken kalguksu, there's also spicy kalguksu, chicken gomtang, chewy dumplings, and set menus that let you enjoy noodles and dumplings together. Side dishes include jjimdak (braised chicken) and grilled boneless chicken feet, and in summer they even have seasonal items like chogye milmyeon (cold noodles in chilled broth).

That day we ordered a large spicy kalguksu + dumpling set, plus chicken gomtang! Since we were visiting with kids, we picked one spicy dish for the adults and one mild dish that would be easy for the kids to eat. In the end, our menu choices turned out to be a great success, haha.

Large spicy kalguksu: how hot is the broth?

First, the spicy kalguksu I was most looking forward to. I love noodles, so I went straight for the large size without a second thought, haha. Just looking at the red broth, it already seemed pretty spicy, but one spoonful in, it was way more fiery than I expected. It's not just red in color with a mild kick — it's the kind of spice that hits your mouth straight on. So the moment I took my first sip of broth, what I said was,

"Whoa, this is a drinking food." Haha.

The hot, fiery broth kept pulling me back for more, and it seemed like it would go great with a glass of soju, or work just as well as a hangover cure the morning after drinking. And then there's the chewy self-made noodles! Maybe because they're aged for 24 hours, they had a nice chewy bite rather than feeling soft or overcooked, and the spicy broth soaked into the noodles nicely for easy slurping. Even though I'd ordered the large size, I just kept eating, haha.

Why the dumpling set is worth adding

Since we ordered the set, chewy dumplings came along with it. Kalguksu alone is already filling, but having a dumpling here and there in between was definitely a nice touch. They're good on their own, but I liked them even more dipped briefly in the spicy kalguksu broth. The fiery broth soaking into the dumpling gave it a whole different flavor! If you're someone who always orders dumplings with kalguksu anyway, going straight for the set menu is probably worth it.

Chicken gomtang: the mild pick for kids

And the chicken gomtang we also ordered — this was a total win with our daughter. Unlike the spicy kalguksu, it's a mild, warm, savory broth, so it wasn't at all a stretch for a kid to eat. I mixed some rice right into the chicken gomtang broth, and she happily ate spoonful after spoonful. She ended up finishing the whole bowl of rice without needing anything else.

Eating out with kids can get tricky since adults and children often want different things, but I liked that at Eonyang Dak Kalguksu Songcheon-dong Eco City Branch, we could split it — spicy kalguksu for the adults, chicken gomtang for the kids.

The geotjeori kimchi here is seriously spicy

And now, the geotjeori kimchi (fresh-tossed kimchi) I mentioned earlier at the self-serve bar! Kimchi quality really matters at a kalguksu restaurant, right? Eonyang Dak Kalguksu's kimchi is made fresh every morning with domestic napa cabbage, and it's much spicier than typical geotjeori. It really does taste like silbi kimchi. Your first bite is like, "Oh, this is good," and then a moment later, "Wait, this is spicy!" Haha.

But here's the strange thing — even though it's spicy, you keep reaching for more. Especially paired with the nutty perilla-based chicken kalguksu, the spiciness of the kimchi cuts right through any richness, so the combination works really well. Same goes for the spicy kalguksu — it's a weird situation, eating spicy broth and then spicy kimchi on top of it, but my chopsticks kept going back for more, haha.

"Spicy! Spicy!" and our son kept eating it anyway

The funniest part was our son. He tried the kimchi and went, "Mom, spicy! Spicy!" — so I figured he'd stop eating it. But nope. He picked up another piece, haha. Ate it with the noodles, said "Spicy!" again, then ate more kimchi. In the end he really cleaned up both the noodles and the kimchi. It's definitely a kimchi that can be too spicy for kids, so I wouldn't recommend it for a child who can't handle spice, but for our son's taste buds, it seemed like a spicy-but-can't-stop flavor, haha.

Our daughter, meanwhile, cleanly finished off a bowl of rice mixed into chicken gomtang broth! Both parents ate well, and both kids found a menu that suited their own taste and ate happily too, so it was a pretty satisfying family meal overall.

Wrap-up: which menu should you order at Eonyang Dak Kalguksu?

Having visited in person, Eonyang Dak Kalguksu Songcheon-dong Eco City Branch felt less like just another bowl-of-noodles place and more like a proper chicken noodle soup specialist with a clear identity built around self-made noodles and chicken bone broth.

• If you like spicy food, go for the fiery spicy kalguksu
• If you prefer something nutty and mild, try the perilla-based chicken kalguksu
• If you're with kids, the mild chicken gomtang is the way to go
• And don't skip the addictively spicy geotjeori kimchi!

Having its own parking lot and plenty of indoor seating was also a plus for visiting as a family. If you're looking for a restaurant in Hoseong-dong, Jeonju, or a place to eat after visiting Jeonju Zoo with kids, or if you're craving a hearty soup dish and searching for restaurants near Jeonbuk National University Hospital, this place is worth keeping in mind. Next time I visit, I think I'll go for the spicy kalguksu again — and in the large size, of course, haha. And I'm pretty sure I'll be busily eating that kimchi I complained so loudly about being spicy, all over again.🤣